User Reviews

Reviews by Dag48:

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5/5 rDev +18.2%look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

2015: still by far my favorite IIPA.
Absolutely perfect nose of Mosaic happiness and just a hint of honey like sweetness. Luscious grapefruit and orange bomb that somehow defines and defies the idea of a "balanced" IPA. Amazing when fresh yet still impressive when unintentionally aged. Perfect beer in my book. 5+

L: Beautiful brilliant copper amber under a 2” cream colored foam collar that hugs the side of the glass.
S: Melon, biscuit, tropical fruit, citrus.
T: Big fruit flavors seasoned with light caramel, melon, tropical fruit, leading to an assertive bitter finish.
F: Very creamy texture with a medium body and carbonation. The alcohol is soft and not harsh.
O: A big fruity DIPA with a good balance between hop, malt and alcohol flavors.

Poured into snifter from 12 oz bottled on March 5, 2015
A- copper-orange hue with small white head. Small bubbles that left a good lace down the glass.
S- straight mango and tropical fruit with some apricot and citrus notes as well.
T- follows the nose with mango, honey, sweet malt balance.
M- medium, avg carbonation, hides the big abv well.
O- really good DIPA. Up there in the upper echelon.

The best DIPA that I can find in a retail store on a regular basis. Stone Enjoy By seems to be a little more hoppy and refined, but this is right there with it. Victory Dirtwolf is pretty close too, but Chillwave is my favorite at the moment.

Chillwave is not your usual DIPA either. It has much more of a pilsner malt backbone with a very earthy and piney hop resin that meshes well with this omnipresent malt character.

It doesn't taste anything like a 9.7 % abv ale. You really have to be careful because you can't taste much alcohol with this one. These go down very easily.

Color is the typical copper dark orange that most DIPA's carry.

Nose is malty, vegetal and piney.

Lacing and head is small, but give it jiggle and it carbonates quickly to your desired foam level.

Taste, as I mentioned before is very unique and absolutely delicious. Malty, bready, hoppy, piney and earthy all balanced in a perfect taste package.

12oz bottle from Justdoit1234 (thanks man!). Best by 5/3/15, so I assume bottled 2/3/15. Served in a Burnt Hickory snifter.

Pours a deep orange amber with just over a finger of beige head. The foam shrinks to a thin layer, depositing dense sheets of lace on the way down.

A bright blend of citrus and grass brings a pleasing aroma that I keep coming back to enjoy. Rind, pulp, juice, floral and a little herbal with some malty sweetness in the background.

That nose was not misleading. This delivers the juicy, delicious and hoppy flavors of oranges, faint melon, grass, flower petals, honey, a little bread and just a hint of alcohol. Dangerously easy to drink, I could easily go through two or three of these.

I'm quite glad that I got this chance to try Great Lakes' Chillwave. Were this available in Georgia this juicy, delicious explosion of hops would find regular refuge in my refrigerator. Certainly worth a try for any hophead.

The beer pours a nice white and bubbly head that dissipates quickly but still leaves a small film. The beer itself is a clear deep amber that borders on a copper brown color. The beer leaves quite a bit of lacing

The beer smell is extremely tropical and hoppy. The hop smell comes into stages. The stronger notes come off as tropical and fruity such as pineapple and mango. The weaker notes are a bit more pine resin scented but re not very strong.

The beer taste itself has a a strong resemblance to the taste but with a stronger nugget hop presence. The taste is primarily hoppy with a really nice sweetness at the beginning. The hop notes at the start are tropical fruits such as pineapple with a bit of mango. The tropical notes are mixed with a more bitter pine resin note that lingers into the aftertaste.

The mouthfeel is heavy bodied but very smooth. The beer has some carbonation and gives it a little bit of texture and bite. The overall feel is pretty smooth and goes down easy.

Overall, this is a fantastic DIPA and one I highly recommend. The beer has a whole bunch of notes that makes it taste like a tropical paradise, and definitely a welcome sight during the cold.

Pours hazy copper color with a thick 2 finger foamy light tan head that was full of bubbles and dissipated very, very slowly, leaving excellent foamy lacing and rings as it went down.

Smells of tropical fruit like pineapple, mango, grapefruit, orange, apricot, fresh juicy citrus hops and some nice piney hop resins, which then give way to caramel, toffee, brown sugar, gunny bear candy, graham cracker and biscuit. No real sign of spices as the hoppy sweetness overtakes most of the nose, letting the malty backbone come through as well.

Tastes of tropical fruit like pineapple, guava, clementine, pear, lemon and passion fruit mixed with piney hops, caramel, toasted grains, brown sugar, toffee, a buttered biscuit, French toast bread crust and then a zesty citrus finish. ABV is pretty well hidden and the bitterness is mid-level and likely tamed by the nice malty balance. The second bottle I had confirmed that it was maltier than the first few sips, and while it doesn't finish like a hop-bomb it's still very tasty.

Mouthfeel is buttery smooth and velvety as it slides across the tongue with light carbonation, a medium body that leans towards the chewy side and a nice bitter finish which has a citrus pucker mixed with doughy bread crust and a sweetness which reminds me of maple syrup or brown sugar. Overall a very good DIPA that goes down easier than a 9% ABV brew should which is likely due to the well balanced flavor.

Poured out of a 12 oz bottle into one of my tulip glasses, this beer pours a mainly clear, light to medium amber/copper color with some steady streams of bubbles continuously rising to the beer's surface along with a nice, frothy looking head that is about 2/3 to 3/4 inch thick when first poured before settling to a solid 1/3 to 1/4 of an inch thick about 5 minutes are first being poured. Excellent lacing too. Aromas of molasses, caramel malt sweetness followed by a sappy, resinous piney smell with hints of mango, pineapple, grapefruit, apricot and also a slight smoky spiced note. Has a molasses, caramel malt sweetness upfront flavorwise that gives way to a resinous hint of honey and piney and citrusy hop notes with fruity hints of mango, pineapple, and apricot. The taste rounds out with a slightly smoky spice note that really lingers. An excellent and complex flavor profile. Has a crisp, somewhat frothy and slightly creamy, slightly oily and resinous, medium bodied mouthfeel with light to moderate carbonation. Drinkability is superb! I can't believe it took me this long to sit down and really enjoy this beer to this degree. Another damn fine beer here from Great Lakes!

Big, inviting flavour, pulls you in right away. Mosaic is very prominent, lots of stone fruit (melon) and tropical flavours. Malt is fairly strong, a big caramel flavour, but does not steal the show from the hood. Mildly bitter. Nice stuff.

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW. That's the best five words I can come up with. Delicious! Balanced with malty flavor and good hop character. A highly professional brew. These guys obviously know what they're doing. I hope they're at the Beer Fest in Boston this weekend!